Automatic fire alarm and extinguisher



(No Model.)

D; G. STILLSON. v AUTOMATIGI'FIRE ALARM AND BX-TIN UISHER'. 7$10,260,252.

v Patented June 27, 1882:.

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UNITED STATES PATE T OFFICE.

DANIEL O. STILLSON, OF SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS.-

AUTOMATIC FIRE ALARM AND EXTINGUISHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 260,252, dated June 27,1882.

' Application filed December 7, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known thatI, DANIEL C.STILLSON, ofSomerville, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have inventedan Improvement in Automatic Fire Alarms and Extinguishers, of which thefollowing description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is aspecification.

My invention relates to an automatic fire extinguisher and alarm, and isshown as used in connection with apparatus patented to me January 4.,1881, to which reference may be had. In the said patent I have shown awatervalvecontrollingperforateddistributing-pipes, and mechanismoperated by the expansion of a metallic bar to permit the said valve toopen when the said bar is sufficiently heated, as by an accidental fire.In my present invention, in addition to the valve located near the saidexpanding bar and operated directly thereby, I employ a main valve,which may be located at any suitable point beyond the action of frost,the said main valve having similar operating mechanism to that describedin my former patcut; but the tripping pawl or trigger by which it isreleased to permit'the valve to open is mechanically connected with theother valves operated by the expansion of the bars in such manner thatwhen one of the said valves is released it will release the main valve,thus permitting the water to enter the pipes and to be discharged fromthe section which is controlled by the valve which was released by theexpanding bar. I also employ a mechanical and audible alarm, normallyheld inoperative by a detent so connected with the valve-operat ingmechanism that when any of the saidvalves are permitted to operate itwill release the actuating mechanism of the said alarm,- which is thuscausedto be sounded. The said detent also forms a portion of acircuit-closer of one or more electrical alarms, which may be located atany desired point more or less remote from the building containing thefire-extinguishing apparatus.

The drawing illustrates a fire extinguishing and alarm apparatusconstructed in accordance with this invention. The valve at A,

which controls a certain section, B,of the pipes in a given portion ofthe building to be protected, is itself controlled by the expansionof'the metal bar T, the same as in Letters Patent No. 236,378, granted tome January 4,1881, the said valve being held to its seat bya wedge, a,interposed between a roller, a, at the end of the valve-stein, and anabutment-roller, 41 mounted upon an adjustable lever, l. The-said wedgea is pivoted to an arm, I), mounted on a rocker-shaft, 0, provided witha horizontal actuating-arm, d, or with an actuating-spring, e, or both,tending to rotate the said shaft in such manner as to withdraw the wedgea from above the valve-stem and permitthe valve to open. The said shaftis normally prevented from thus rotating by a detent pawl or trigger,f,engaging a stud, g, upon the said rockshaft c, and provided with a'projection, g, which receives the end of the expanding bar T, so thatwhen the latteris elongated by raising its temperature it will disengagethe said pawl from the stud and permit the rock-shaft to rotate and openthe valve.

It is preferable to have the water excluded from the system of pipesemployed throughout large buildings, and to have the said pipes dividedup in sections, each controlled by its own valve and expanding bar,asjustdescribed, so that only the section in which a conflagration isgoing on will be acted upon by the water distributed from the perforatedpipes. For this purpose a main valve is employed, as shown at M, whichcontrols the entire system of pipes leading to the valves at A O, and soon controlling different sections of distributing-pipes, it beingoperated in substantially the same manner as the one just described,except that its releasing pawl or trigger f is mechanically connected,as by a series of wires, 2, and bell'cranks 3, arranged in the samemanner as for operating bells, with some portionof the actuatingmechanism of each of the minor valves at A G, &c., herein shown as v thearm 61 of the rock-shaft c.

In order that attention maybe called as soon as a fire is started, Iemploy a mechanical alarm, located at any convenient point where it willbe most likely to attract attention, as on the wall outside the'building, the said alarm consisting in this instance of a gong, t, arranged tobe struck by the hammers j, actuated by any suitable mechanicalforeesuch as that of a weight, j, suspended from a cord wound upon thedrum k-the stemj of thehammers beingfree to slidelongitudinallyin guides3j rotated by the said drum in such manner that one of the hammers jwhich is most remote from the center of rotation of the said drum willbe retained there by centrifugal force until it has struck the bell,when the drum will be arrested for a moment, and the rod connecting thehammers will slide by gravity through the guide, bringing the otherhammer into position to strike the bell in the further rotation of thesaid drum. The signal-motor, r 5 consisting of the said weight and drum,is normally held inactive by a detent, (shown as a hooked lever,) m,pivoted at 4, and en gaging a projection, (shown as one of the series ofratchet-teeth,) it, upon the said drum. The end of the said detent-leveris connected mechanically, as by the wire 5 and bell-cranks, ifnecessary, with a portion of the actuating mechanism of the main valveat M, so that the moment the said valve is released the alarm is set inoperation, and will continue so until the weight j or otheractuating-power is wholly run down or exhausted. The said deten t-leverin also forms one portion of a circuit-closer of an electric circuit, 6,which may be employed 0 to operate any usual form of electric alarm,

S, at any desired point or points, the said detent-lever being broughtby the same movement by which the mechanical alarm is released intocantact with the co-operating por- 55 tion of the circuit-closer andcompleting the electric circuit.

It is obvious that any form of mechanical alarm may be employed, the oneshown not forming any part of the present invention.

It is also obvious that the signal-controllin g device may be operatedby the minor valves, as at A and 0, directly instead of indirectly,through the mechanism of the main valve, which latter is indirectlycontrolled by the rise in temperature of or action of heat upon theexpanding bars T of the diii'erent minorvalves.

I claim- 1.1n an automatic fire-extinguishing apparatus, the combinationof a valve and operating mechanism therefor automatically controlled bya rise in temperature, with a main valve and operating mechanism, andreleasing device therefor mechanically connected with and controlled bythe operating mechanism of the valve that is controlled directly by risein temperature, whereby operation of the main valve is directlydependent on that of the other valve, substantially as and for thepurpose described.

2. The valve and its operating mechanism, the alarm and its motor, anddetent therefor, connected with the said valve-operating mechanism,combined with an electric circuit and alarm therein, including the saiddetent as a circuit-closer, whereby the said electric alarm is set inoperation simultaneously with the release of the mechanical alarm-motor,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

DANIEL 0. STILLSON.

Witnesses:

J 0s. P. LivEaMoRE, BERNIoE J. NoYEs.

